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Sunday, August 9, 2015

Off to Portland

I'm headed to Portland, OR this week to work at the Quilt!Knit!Stitch! show--the summer International Quilt Festival event. As usual, the days before one of these trips is filled with laundry, lists and making sure I have everything ready to pack. And checking the weather: Portland, 80's and dry, home 90's and humid. Nice time to go to the Pacific Northwest. If you are in the area, don't miss this show!

Here are the Smitten blocks I have done--I've prepped/packed several of these to hand piece on the plane, if I have enough room to do that. This pattern is by Lucy Carson Kingwell and I found out about it on an Instagram post of someone doing the Smitten Quilt-Along, #smittenqal

Many people are doing these blocks by English paper piecing: wrapping the fabric around paper pieces and whip-stitching them. These I've hand and machine pieced, much faster and more accurate for me.

A friend whose blog I follow, Lori of Humble Quilts, is going on a mission trip to Bolivia this fall. She recently asked her blog followers if they might be willing to make little sundresses/pillowcase dresses she can take with her. The response was overwhelming: read her post here. She gives links to several patterns. I made these two this week, very fast and easy. I will be MEETING HER for the first time in Portland--I'm very excited about that, we've been following each other for quite some time now. She lives in that area so I can put the dresses directly into her hands:

While I was making these dresses, from yardage, not pillowcases, I learned we are doing a similar service project in Houston this Fall. So I'll make several more when I get home. It's a great way to use up yardage I am ready to part with.

I also got my Stars in a Time Warp blocks done for this past week. We are working with Floral Trails-type prints. As I was making the small dress above I realized that fabric was a floral trails reproduction so it became the background of one of my blocks:

In Portland I'll be working at our Open Studio demo area on the show floor, demonstrating String/Crumb piecing. Here are a few samples:

I wrote about the String Swap Block Challenge in this post. The 8 pointed star is 12" finished and I really like it so I'll be making several of those during the demos. I also suggest lots of other ways you can use leftover pieces to make great string blocks. This is a free event, four different sessions are going at the same time, for two hour sessions and people come and go as they please.

In addition, I'll be teaching two sessions at Make It University, again on the show floor. This is a one hour class that costs $10--for that, the student gets a kit with everything they need to make the project being taught. Here are my offerings:

Hand Piece the 8 Pointed Star, this is 6" square

Hexie Stars: English Paper Piece OR Hand Piece, students choose which they want to do

These events are in addition to my other duties in the Education Office--it's a fun and busy time. It's also great to reconnect with my Education Team friends who come to help run the show. Good times!

I may not have time to post this week but I'll take lots of photos for the next time.